A 42-year-old Palm Desert man is out on bail after allegedly assaulting one of his neighbors and refusing to surrender to a SWAT team for hours Saturday morning, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department reported.
Responding to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon shortly after 8 a.m., deputies learned that the man had confronted his neighbors with a gun in the 77-700 block of Country Club Drive, Palm Desert.
According to Lt. Chris Willison, the man had allegedly brandished a firearm at his neighbors, made threatening comments and then assaulted one of the victims with the gun. Afterward, deputies got word that the suspect, Mario Gonzalez, was hiding in his nearby apartment but the man ignored the deputies outside for several minutes. As the suspect "showed no intent to peacefully exit," this resulted in a standoff with the SWAT team that lasted for hours, according to the lieutenant.
After securing a search warrant, the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) and the Palm Desert Investigations Bureau entered the apartment and found the suspect hiding in the attic.
"Gonzalez was transported to an area hospital for dehydration and will be booked into the John Benoit Detention Center (JBDC), in Indio, for assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and resisting arrest," Willison said. "April De La Riva, a 42-year-old resident of Palm Desert, was also arrested after it was discovered she assisted Gonzalez in attempting to evade law enforcement."
De La Riva was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center for being an accessory and resisting, obstructing or delaying an investigation, the Sheriff's Department said.
According to inmate records, Gonzalez posted his $25,000 bail on Sunday and was released, KESQ reported. Additionally, the article said that Gonzalez had threatened a man and his son who were walking past him. One of them was the victim of the assault but neither the article nor the Sheriff's Department was more specific about the victim's identity.
During the standoff with SWAT, residents were evacuated temporarily due to safety concerns.